The owner of Paddy Power and Betfair has been accused of lavishing trips to football games and the Grand National on a gambling addict to encourage him to bet more. Flutter Entertainment (FLTR) allegedly targeted property investor Antonio Parente even though he had asked to be banned from Betfair for life. It also deposited £20,000 in his account to get him to bet more, say court filings. Flutter is being sued in the High Court by a former business associate of Dubai-based Parente, who claims he is owed £942,135. Amarjeet Singh Dhir alleges that Parente stole from him to feed his habit. The case comes as Britain’s biggest betting firms face increasing pressure to prove they are tackling problem gambling. Last month, Ladbrokes owner GVC was fined £5.9m by the Gambling Commission for failing to prevent money laundering and problem gambling.
Two leading wealth managers are in talks over a merger that would create a powerhouse managing assets of £45bn. Tilney, bought by private equity firm Permira from Deutsche Bank five years ago, has entered negotiations to snap up its 140-year-old competitor Smith & Williamson and nearly double its assets under management. The possible acquisition comes two years after listed wealth manager Rathbones tried to buy the privately owned S&W. Tilney tried to gatecrash the bid, but failed. Rathbones’ move on S&W then fell apart, too. A merger would propel Tilney into the top five British wealth managers by assets, and would broaden its offering to include tax advice and other financial-planning services provided by S&W through its accountancy arm.
American regulators have been handed claims of market manipulation in the trading of shares in litigation funder Burford Capital (BUR). The US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice were passed details of alleged share manipulation minutes before short-seller Muddy Waters released its dossier on Burford this month. The damning report wiped 66% from Burford’s shares, although the stock has recovered slightly and now trades 40% lower than its level before the attack. Burford, which hopes to list in America, issued a statement last week saying it had identified “evidence consistent with illegal market manipulation”. It said that in the three minutes and 48 seconds before Muddy Waters named Burford as its latest target on Twitter, 578,112 “sell” orders on its shares were placed at below market value and then cancelled — a phenomenon known as “spoofing”. It said it had also identified “layering”, where sell orders are placed above market value and then cancelled, giving the impression that a high volume of shares is for sale.
American anti-virus software developer McAfee is suing Dixons Carphone (DC.), accusing the retailer of flouting an agreement to promote its products and instead marketing those of a rival, which it claims will cost more than £30m in lost sales. McAfee has issued a High Court writ against the chain for allegedly breaching a deal where its software would be exclusively marketed as an add-on purchase for customers who bought a computer, tablet or smartphone. It claims that since April, Dixons Carphone has run a deal with Symantec, the New York-listed cybersecurity outfit, to promote its software to customers as add-ons. McAfee claims this is “inconsistent” with its own agreement with Dixons Carphone.
BT Group (BT.A) new boss is selling more than £100m of telecoms infrastructure in Holland as he simplifies the group. Philip Jansen wants to offload towers and broadband cables connecting BT’s Global Services Dutch business customers. The former Worldpay boss is dropping fringe units and sharpening BT’s focus on carpeting Britain in ultra-fast broadband. This includes selling its £80m Tikit legal software business and Global Services’ presence in Ireland, Latin America and Spain. Jansen is looking to sell some Global Services infrastructure, but was not “pulling out of specific countries altogether”.
The former boss of Majestic Wine (WINE) is set to return to the retailer he left two years ago as it enters new ownership. John Colley has resigned from his role as chief trading officer at Kingfisher, the DIY conglomerate, after just 20 months to return to Majestic, whose stores were bought for £95m this month by the American investment firm Fortress. Colley advised Fortress on its acquisition. That deal separated Majestic from its sister business, Naked Wines, the online subscription service set up by Rowan Gormley. Naked Wines is still run by Gormley and is tipped to seek a New York listing. Majestic made underlying earnings of £11.3m on sales of £267.6m from its 200 stores in the year to April. Colley’s move is his fourth in four years. He spent two years at Majestic — leaving amid rumours of a falling-out with Gormley — to become chief executive of the arts and crafts retailer Hobbycraft, where he lasted eight weeks before joining Kingfisher, owner of B&Q and Screwfix.
CYBG (CYBG) is braced for a fresh hit from payment protection insurance, piling more pressure on its share price — down by nearly a third over the past few weeks. Shares in the London-listed bank, run by David Duffy, have plunged from about £2 towards the end of July to 142p as the lender fights fierce competition in the mortgage market and uncertainty over Brexit. Analysts expect the bank to take a hefty provision for PPI, possibly £100m, when it presents full-year results in November. In July, CYBG reported “a recent increase in PPI information requests”, saying it would “determine its final costs” after the PPI claims deadline at the end of this month. The scandal has cost banks more than £35bn. “They’re definitely going to have to pump up PPI provisions,” said analyst John Cronin at the stockbroker Goodbody.
Standard Chartered (STAN) faces a multimillion-pound fine from the Treasury for failing to prevent sanctions breaches, in another setback for chief executive Bill Winters. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has told the emerging markets bank that it is planning to impose a penalty of more than £10m, according to Sky News. The impending fine deals another blow to Winters, 57, whose outsized pension payments have caused a row with investors.
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) is a marauding hunter. Fiercely independent, the wealth manager, valued at £1.2bn, is on the prowl for deals. The need to hunt down other targets is pressing. Its discretionary wealth management arm is a mature business and new organic growth is hard to come by, with net fund outflows of £100m in the first half of the year. Profit margins are at the upper end of the industry scale, but there is little room for manoeuvre. The wealth management space has become crowded; Rathbones’ rivals include Brooks Macdonald, Charles Stanley and Brewin Dolphin. Rathbones is well-placed for further acquisitions under its new management team, with analysts lauding the appointment of Jennifer Mathias from EFG Private Bank as the new finance boss. The market is waiting for a “strategy refresh” from the new top team, including chief executive Paul Stockton, who was promoted from finance director in May. Analysts at Shore Capital said he must “deliver a credible plan to re-stimulate organic growth”.Rathbones may be one of the predators, but questions hang over growth prospects as Brexit bites. Hold.
